Simulation of DPCM and ADM Systems
Christopher Mansour
Department of Computer and Communications Engineering
American University of Science and Technology, AUST
Beirut, Lebanon
christopher.mansour@hotmail.com
Gaby Abou Haidar
Department of Computer and Communications Engineering
American University of Science and Technology, AUST
Beirut, Lebanon
gabouhaidar@aust.edu.lb
Abstract— Through years, Digital Communication systems,
Pulse Coded Modulation (PCM), Linear Delta Modulation
(LDM), Differential Pulse Coded Modulation (DPCM), and
Adaptive Delta Modulation (ADM), have proven their
unlimited advantages over analog communication systems, in
term of error minimization, and distances of transmission
enhancement. However two of these systems, the Pulse Coded
Modulation and Linear Delta Modulation, still have some
weaknesses limiting their advantages; these limitations
negatively affect the communication process causing
quantization error, slope overload distortion and granular
noise. On the other hand, communication engineers have
developed two additional digital communication systems which
are the Adaptive Delta Modulation (ADM) and the Differential
Pulse Coded Modulation (DPCM) in order to solve the
aforementioned problems. This paper discusses the
implementation and simulation of the aforementioned digital
communication systems using Simulink (The Math Works,
Inc., Natick, MA, USA) showing the effect of different types of
noise when applied to the channel, thus, proving the
importance of DPCM and ADM systems in eliminating such
effects and ensuring a successful transfer of data.
Keywords- Adaptive Delta Modulation, Differential Pulse Coded
Modulation, Pulse Coded Modulation, Linear Delta Modulation.
I. INTRODUCTION
Digital communications is the transfer of data over a
point-to-point or even point-to-multipoint communication
channel, examples of which are copper wires, optical fibers,
and wireless communications media. The data is
represented as an electromagnetic signal, such as an
electrical voltage, radio-waves, or micro waves [1].
While analog communications is the transfer of
continuously varying information signal, digital
communications is the transfer of discrete messages. The
messages are either represented by means of line codes, or
by limited set of continuously varying form using the digital
modulation methods [2].
Common techniques exist for the digital modulation
process in order to make the process of transmitting data
feasible, such as the PCM and the LDM. However, these
two techniques have problems such as the quantization error
Roger Achkar
Department of Computer and Communications Engineering
American University of Science and Technology, AUST
Beirut, Lebanon
rachkar@aust.edu.lb
resulting from PCM, granular noise and slope overload
distortion resulting from LDM.
To observe the previously mentioned problems, and their
solution, the digital modulation systems are implemented
and simulated using Simulink. The relevance of this work
lies in its ability to determine, by simulation, the effect of
noise on the transmission channel of the data, and prove
how two of these systems, the Differential Pulse Coded
Modulation and the Adaptive Delta Modulation, work and
eliminate the aforementioned problems.
II. BACKGROUND INFORMATION
A. Pulse Coded Modulation (PCM)
Pulse Coded Modulation (PCM) is a method used to
digitally represent sampled analog signals; in PCM a signal
is represented by a sequence of coded pulses. A PCM
stream is a digital representation of an analog signal where
the magnitude of the analog signal is sampled regularly at
uniform intervals, with each sample being quantized to the
nearest value within a range of digital steps [3].
PCM has been used in digital telephone systems and is
also the standard form for digital audio in computers and
compact disks. However, PCM is not typically used for
video in consumer applications such as DVD and DVR
because it requires two high bit rate [3].
The performance of a PCM system is influenced by two
major sources of noise, namely the channel noise which is
introduced anywhere between the transmitter and the
receiver; and the quantization noise which is introduced in
the transmitter and is carried all the way to the receiver
output. This noise is signal dependent in the sense that it
disappears when the message signal is switched off [4].
The basic operations performed by the PCM transmitter
are: sampling in which the signal is sampled with a train of
narrow rectangular pulses and changed into a discrete time
signal; quantizing in which the discrete values are
approximated and changed into levels and this would be a
new representation of the signal which is discrete in time
and amplitude, and, encoding in which the obtained levels
are changed to bits. As for the PCM receiver, it consists of
the regenerative repeater for timing, equalization and
decision making. It is a decoder that changes the obtained
bits to levels again, and the reconstruction filter that
reconstructs the original signal.
“Fig. 1” shows the block diagram representation of Pulse
Coded Modulation PCM; as one can observe, the process is
divided into three steps: transmitter, regenerative repeater,
and receiver.
Figure 1. Block Diagram showing the PCM process
(adapted from Simon Haykin, “Communications Systems”,
New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2000).
B. Linear Delta Modulation
Delta Modulation (DM) is an analog-to-digital and
digital-to-analog signal conversion technique used for
transmission of voice information where quality is not the
primary concern. Delta Modulation is a special type of
analog to digital quantizer, which is applicable to smoothly
varying analog signals where there is a strong correlation
from one sample to the next. DM is the simplest form of
differential pulse coded modulation where the difference
between successive samples is encoded into n-bits data
stream; in Delta Modulation, the transmitted data is reduced
to a 1-bit data stream [5].
The main feature of Delta Modulation is that the analog
signal is approximated with series of segments which are
then compared to the original analog wave to determine an
increase or a decrease in relative amplitude; after that, the
decision is made based on the comparison done. The Delta
Modulation encoder shown in “Fig. 2” is known as a single
integrator modulator. The input signal is compared to the
integrated output pulses, and the delta (difference) signal is
applied to the quantizer. The quantizer generates a positive
pulse when the difference signal is negative and a negative
pulse when the difference signal is positive. This difference
signal moves the integrator step by step closer to the present
value input, tracking the derivative of the input signal [5].
Figure 2. Delta Modulation Encoder (adapted from Simon
Haykin, “Communications Systems”, New York: John
Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2000).
Two types of distortions limit the performance of the
Delta Modulation as shown in “Fig. 3”. The first is the slope
overload distortion that is caused by the use of a step size
delta which is too small to follow portions of the waveform
that has a steep slope; and the granular noise, which is the
result of a large step size signal parts with small slope [6].
Figure 3. : Illustration of the Distortions facing LDM
(adapted from Simon Haykin, “Communications Systems”,
New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2000).
To achieve a high signal to noise ratio (SNR), Delta
Modulation uses oversampling techniques; that is, the
analog signal is sampled at a rate several times higher than
that of the Nyquist rate; this sampling is known as the
Nyquist Criteria in digital signal processing [7].
III. PROPOSED SOLUTIONS
A. Differential Pulse Coded Modulation (DPCM)
The Differential Pulse Coded Modulation (DPCM) is a
signal encoder that uses the baseline of Pulse Coded
Modulation (PCM), discussed previously, but adds some
functionality based on the prediction of the future values of
the signal. Instead of taking a difference relative to the
previous input sample, a difference relative to the output of
a local model of the decoder process is taken. In this latter
option, the difference can be quantized, securing a good
way to incorporate a controlled loss in the encoding. Thus,
the DPCM system reduces the error generated by the
quantization process (known as the “quantization error”) at
the transmitter of the PCM system. The DPCM transmitter
is similar to the PCM transmitter, but it has a prediction
filter for prediction of the future values of the signal;
consequently, eliminating the quantization error [8].
 To illustrate the advantages of DPCM over PCM, a
typical example is taken into consideration; the same picture
is coded in two ways. “Fig. 4” and “Fig. 5” are histograms
showing the PCM and DPCM sample frequencies
respectively.
Figure 4. Histogram of PCM samples image (adapted from
Anonymous, “Differential Pulse Coded Modulation”,
http://www.rasip.ferhr/research/compress/algorithms/fund/p
cm/dpcm/index.html
Figure 5. Histogram of DPCM samples image (adapted
from Anonymous, “Differential Pulse Coded Modulation”,
http://www.rasip.ferhr/research/compress/algorithms/fund/p
cm/dpcm/index.html
On the histogram shown in “Fig. 4”, a large number of
samples have a significant frequency and we cannot pick
only a few of them which would be assigned shorter code
words to achieve compression.
On the histogram shown in “Fig. 5”, all the samples are
between -20 and +20, and were assigned short code,
achieving a solid compression rate.
B. Adaptive Delta Modulation
Adaptive Delta Modulation (ADM) is the same as the
Linear Delta Modulation (LDM), but the only difference is
that the step size delta differs according to the input signal
using what is known as the “Adaptive Algorithm”. The
principle that underlines all ADM adaptive algorithms is
twofold: when to apply a maximum value of delta if
successive errors are of the same polarity, and when to
decrease delta if successive errors are of opposite polarity
[9-10].
The block diagram representation of the Adaptive Delta
Modulation (ADM) shown in “Fig. 6” consists of an input
which is a sampled message signal, a one bit quantizer for
the quantization process, and the adaptive algorithm which
is the key element in the ADM system.
Figure 6. Block Diagram of ADM (adapted from Simon
Haykin, “Communications Systems”, New York: John
Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2000).
The Adaptive Delta Modulation (ADM) system is the
system that reduces the granular noise and slope overload
distortion resulting from Linear Delta Modulation; the
reduction is achieved due to the presence of the adaptive
filter or algorithm in the system [11-12].
In the following sections, the systems discussed are
implemented and simulated in Simulink (The Math Works,
Inc., Natick, MA, USA) to test and observe the effect of
noise on the transmission channel and to prove how ADM
and DPCM reduce these effects.
IV. SIMULATIONS
A. Simulink Implementation of Pulse Coded Modulation
The implementation of Pulse Coded Modulation (PCM)
in Simulink, as shown in “Fig. 7”, requires the following: a
sine wave source block that provides the test signal; a
Bessel low pass filter of the 8th order to limit the signal’s
frequency and prevent aliasing error; a Zero-Order-Hold
block to allow the sampling process, thus changing the
signal from a continuous varying signal to a discrete time
signal; a quantizer for the quantization process which
approximates the discrete values to levels; a uniform
encoder to encode the obtained levels to a bit data stream;
and, a decoder followed by a reconstruction filter in order to
reconstruct the original signal.
 blocks: a sine wave source block to provide the test signal; a
Zero-Order-Hold block to act as a sampler for the sampling
process, thus changing the continuous varying signal to a
discrete time signal; a 1-bit quantizer for the quantization
process; a unit delay; and an encoder for the encoding
process. On the receiver side, the receiver consists of a
decoder followed by Butter worth Filter of the 8th order for
the reconstruction of the original signal.

Figure 7. Simulink Implementation of PCM system.

In order to study the effect of noise on the PCM system,

band limited White Gaussian noise was added to the
transmission channel (between the encoder and the
decoder). The results of simulation are as shown in “Fig. 8”.

Figure 9. Simulink Implementation of LDM.

In order to study the effect of noise on the LDM system,

band limited White Gaussian noise was added to the
transmission channel between the encoder and the decoder as
shown in “Fig. 8”; and an Integrate and Dump block
followed by a gain and a low pass filter were added to act as
a matched filter to the rectangular pulse which helps in the
reconstruction process. Results of simulation are as shown in
“Fig. 10”.

Figure 8. Reconstructed vs. original signal of PCM system.

It is clear from these results that the reconstruction of the

signal after the addition of band limited White Gaussian
noise is a hard task within a PCM system, and that the
reconstructed signal is distorted. The obtained signal has a
different frequency and amplitude than the original signal,
and even the shape of the signal is completely different than
that of the original signal.

Figure 10. Addition of noise to LDM.

B. Simulink Implementation of Linear Delta Modulation
The implementation of Linear Delta Modulation (LDM)
in Simulink, as shown in “Fig. 9”, requires the following
Figure 11. Original vs. reconstructed signal of LDM system.
It is clear from the results shown in “Fig. 11” that the
reconstruction of the signal after the addition of noise to the
transmission channel is a hard task, and that the
reconstructed signal is unstable and distorted.
C. Simulink Implementation of Differential Pulse Coded
Modulation
The Simulink implementation of the Differential Pulse
Coded Modulation (DPCM), shown in “Fig. 12”, consists of
the following blocks: a sine wave source block to provide the
test signal; a quantizer for the quantization process; a
differentiator filter that acts as the prediction filter discussed
previously; a uniform encoder for the encoding process; and,
at the end, a low pass filter of type Bessel for filtering and
reconstructing the original signal.
Figure 12. Simulink Implementation of DPCM.
In order to study the effect of noise on the DPCM
system, band limited White Gaussian noise was added to the
transmission channel between the transmitter and the
receiver; the results of the simulation are as shown in “Fig.
13”.
Figure 13. Reconstructed Signal after DPCM system's
simulation.
It is clear from the previous results that the Differential
Pulse Coded Modulation system succeeded, to a certain
extent, in reconstructing of the original signal, even after the
addition of noise to the transmission channel; this is due to
the usage of the prediction filter, which predicts the future
values of the signal, hence, preventing the quantization
error.
D. Simulink Implementation of Adaptive Delta Modulation
The Simulink implementation of Adaptive Delta
Modulation (ADM), shown in “Fig. 14”, consists of the
following blocks: a sine wave source to provide the test
signal, a quantizer for the quantization process, and, a LMS
filter with the LMS algorithm chosen to act as the adaptive
filter with the adaptive algorithm, driving the input signal to
the desired signal. On the receiver side, the same LMS filter
with the same algorithm is used in order to get the
successful reconstruction of the original signal, and to
eliminate the errors resulting from the Linear Delta
Modulation (LDM).
Figure 14. Simulink implementation of ADM.
 In order to study the effect of the noise on the
transmission channel , band limited White Gaussian noise
was added to the channel between the transmitter and the
receiver; the results of the simulation are as shown in “Fig.
15”.
Figure 15. Original vs. reconstructed signal of ADM
system.
The results shown in “Fig. 15” prove that the
reconstructed signal was approximately the same as that of
the original signal, which means that the Adaptive Delta
Modulation system has successfully reconstructed the
original signal without being affected by the noise that was
added to the channel. The difference in amplitude is due to
the LMS filter which acted as the adaptive algorithm.
Therefore, the Adaptive Delta Modulation (ADM)
system has eliminated the granular noise and slope overload
distortion resulting from the Linear Delta Modulation
(LDM).
Upon the completion of the implementation and
simulation parts, two of these systems were observed to be
the best: the Differential Pulse Coded Modulation (DPCM)
and the Adaptive Delta Modulation (ADM). These two
techniques were chosen since they have produced the best
results with the highest accuracy when simulated using
Matlab.
V. RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS
After the implementation and simulation of the digital
modulation systems and testing them, the results were
successful in two of these systems, the Differential Pulse
Coded Modulation System (DPCM) and the Adaptive Delta
Modulation System (ADM). The transmitted signal was
successfully received and reconstructed without any error or
disturbance. This fact was proved by a comparison done
between the transmitted data from the transmitter’s side and
the received data from the receiver’s side.
The obtained results prove the importance of the two
systems, the Adaptive Delta Modulation (ADM) and the
Differential Pulse Coded Modulation (DPCM), in
eliminating the effect of noise on the transmission channel,
and in making the reconstruction of the original signal easier
than when implementing the commonly used modulation
techniques.
VI. CONCLUSION AND FUTURE WORK
As a conclusion, this project proves the importance of
certain modulation techniques such as the Adaptive Delta
Modulation and the Differential Pulse Coded Modulation in
some environments and in solving the errors resulting from
commonly used modulation techniques, the Pulse Coded
Modulation and Linear Delta Modulation, such as granular
noise and slope overload distortion.
In the future, we will try to implement these two systems
the Adaptive Delta Modulation System (ADM) and the
Differential Pulse Coded modulation System (DPCM), in a
real-time application.
Working in real-time is important because the conditions
needed for the experiments are better than just testing them
using software such as Simulink; working in real-time
enhances the engineer’s knowledge and experience,
encouraging him/her to better think. It also helps the
engineer to figure out all the problems and try his/her best to
solve them without relying on software to find the solution.
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